Kimberly-Clark inspiration

In the AIGA collection (volume 365: 31) from 2010 I found this funny product that I thought was really appropriate since summer is coming. Because of our products this semester I guess I've been thinking a lot more about product design and this one really stood out to me. It's eye-catching but also a little confusing... are we supposed to want to eat the tissue box? By the design firm Kimberly-Clark.

Reel FX inspiration

Lately I've been interested in investigating motion design companies and I've found that their self-promotions tell a lot about them and are examples of extremely good work. Since it's their time to 'show off' and convince clients that they produce high quality materials, self-promotional pieces are also usually very creative. Here is an example from Reel FX below.

http://www.reelfx.com/entertainment/work/reel-fx-rebrand

I like how the logo of the company, the letter R, is transformed into several different things, showing off creativity and the variety of formats the company uses. I thought it was clever that the squiggle 'investigates' the R, and the audience discovers new and interesting things as the squiggle does. So, there is a little story and discovery in the piece, which is almost always effective in graphic and motion design.

Inspiration of Method

Method is a brand of household products that are environmentally and socially conscious. They also have great product design and won the AIGA 2010 Corporate Leadership Award. The design of their products is very clear clean, which is good for cleaning supplies. The design visually and to the products (which have plant-based formulas or feature biodegradable corn-plastic) are hopefully leading the way to a future in which businesses and companies are more conscientious of their products.

Jacqui Oakley inspiration

Jacqui Oakley did this illustration for an album cover, featured in AIGA. The colors and shapes within the lion's head gives the illustration vibrance and movement while the color palette is, although colorful, still regal. The layout and design of the cover was done by Poly.

Inspiration by Lobo

I liked this ad by Lobo, and I thought it was good motion design because there is always something changing or moving. Not only is the camera moving through the scene, but parts are moving or growing across the space or rotating. And the space also incorporates a 3D sense with depth (moving through Z space).

Andy Gilmore inspiration

AIGA's blog design envy featured artist Andy Gilmore, whose work looks very geometric close up but far away is more organic and emotive.

I think the piece shows a lot of unity through color and balance because it is almost symmetrical. I think what keeps it organic is the rhythm present in the patterns.

Eli Guerron inspiration

This week's motion design inspiration is by Eli Guerron, who created this 'visual esay' titled It Gets Better. The textures and motions created by the 'blobs' is very interesting, reminds me of a lava lamp or something.

Organic shape project

Our second project in 3D animation was to concentrate on organic shapes and object textures. I was inspired by Volvox, a microscopic photosynthetic organism that grows in spherical colonies. Some things I would like to improve in my image would be adding a little of variation in the solid globes (add texture, color variation, etc.) and improve the depth of field in some problem areas (objects in upper left).

James Gurney inspiration

James Gurney was featured in the Society of Illustrators "Spectrum" exhibit that features the best contemporary art in 2009. He is famous as an author/illustrator and particularly for his work Dinotopia. This story details the adventure of a father and son who are ship wrecked on an island on which dinosaurs have not gone extinct and more or less live peacefully with people. The "journal" records how people and dinosaurs have adapted to living with each other and the ways of the dinotopia culture.

This was one of my favorite books as a kid, and the illustrations are absolutely phenomenal. I remember looking at them for hours--the attention to detail visually and also with thought to the imaginative culture is impressive. If you haven't seen this book, I highly recommend picking it up sometime. Here are some sample images below.

Victor Enguix inspiration

I found this interesting motion graphic on MotionGraphics.nu, which has a lot of cool inspirational stuff. This is a short for something...scientific. The timing to the music is fantastic, and I like how there are visual elements and distortions that represent certain cues in the music. Also, I really like the 'dancing' paramecium at the end. :)